Lock the project budget and change it by version

The baseline is the budget every later cost is measured against. On the project's Budget tab it is kept as numbered versions: the one marked Locked is the budget, and the older ones stay as history, marked Replaced.

Before you start

• Your company switches this on with The locked project budget is the budget in Projects › Process Settings. Until then, project figures keep reading the accounting budgets described in Budget a project and compare it with actual cost.

• You need Projects - Prepare Budget Versions to prepare versions, and Projects - Approve Budget Versions to approve them when your company has no approval route.

Review the baseline

A project created from an award already has its baseline drafted: one line per task, with the cost and price of the awarded offer. For a project created by hand, or converted without an offer estimate, select Draft the baseline on the Budget tab: the draft starts with one line at zero for each task at the lowest level of the plan (a task with no sub-tasks), with its work package.

1. Open the project's Budget tab.

2. Check the cost and revenue of each task, change what needs changing, and select Save. A line may stay at zero.

3. To budget a task the draft does not list yet, choose it under Task to add and select Add line. To drop a line, select Remove line (the bin) on it.

4. If the total differs from the cost in the awarded offer, explain why in Why the budget differs from the awarded cost.

The baseline is locked by approving gate G4: see Submit gate G4 to lock the baseline.

Change the budget after it is locked

• Move between tasks: move amounts from one task to another. The total cost must stay the same; selecting Apply the transfer locks the new version at once.

• Request an increase: raise the total. Select Submit for approval; the General Manager (or whoever your approval route names) approves or rejects it. Until then the locked version stays the budget.

• Change order: when a variation is approved, a draft version is prepared for you with the variation's value added to its tasks. Review the cost, then submit it like an increase.

Only one version can be in preparation at a time. Type the reason before you start a version: it shows in the history.

Budget by work package

Below the versions, By work package shows for each work package the budget, what open purchase orders will still cost, what has been spent, and what is left. A negative remaining amount means the work package is over budget.

Three more columns look ahead:

• Open subcontracts: what active subcontracts on the work package have not yet certified. The line Open subcontract value above the table gives the project total.

• Estimate at completion: what the work package is expected to cost in the end. It is the approved estimate at completion of its tasks; a task with no approved estimate counts its cost so far, plus what is committed, plus its open subcontracts.

• Variance at completion: the budget less the estimate at completion. A negative figure, in red, means the work package is expected to end over budget.

Open subcontracts are counted in Committed, and so in Remaining, only when Count open subcontracts in commitments is on in Process settings. The estimate at completion counts them either way. See Commitments.

Common questions

Why can I not submit the baseline here? The baseline is locked only through gate G4, which also checks the schedule, the team and the risk register.

My transfer is refused. The new total differs from the locked one. Put the difference back, or request an increase instead.

The draft has no lines. Add a task on the Tasks tab first, then select Add line here; gate G4 also needs a baseline with a total cost above zero.